Chapter 5 A Lie Too Familiar

The morning after I found Damien's files, I couldn't look at him.

Not because I hated him.

But because I didn't trust myself not to.

He hadn't apologized. He didn't offer explanations. He simply watched me across the long, wooden dining table, sipping his espresso like it was any other day.

I pushed scrambled eggs around my plate with my fork, glancing at my phone under the table. No new messages. Not from Luca. Not from anyone.

Isolation was an art in this house. And Damien had perfected it.

"I want to go back to the city today," I said finally.

He didn't even blink. "Why?"

"I need to feel normal again. See people. Pretend I have a life."

His gaze sharpened like a blade. "You have a life."

"Do I?"

"Don't be dramatic."

I set my fork down. "You have files on me. On my father. On Luca. You've been ten steps ahead of me since before we met. How is that a life I get to claim?"

He wiped his mouth with his napkin, slow and deliberate. "If I wanted to control you, Elena, I wouldn't need files."

The words landed like ice water down my spine.

"Then why do you keep them?" I challenged.

"Because when you've lived long enough," he said, "you learn that knowing someone is the only way to survive them."

---

Later That Morning

I escaped to my bedroom and flung myself onto the bed, heart pounding.

The files weren't just surveillance-they were invasive. Every message I'd sent. Every social media post I thought I'd deleted. Even photos I didn't remember being taken.

I opened my laptop, logged into a burner email Luca had helped me create back in university. My fingers hovered over the keyboard.

> Need to talk. Now.

-E.

I hit send.

Not even five minutes later, I saw three dots appear. Typing.

> Can't call. Bugged house?

Meet at the usual place. Today. 3PM.

I closed the laptop and shoved it under my pillow just as Anastasia knocked on the door.

"You're going out?" she asked, arms crossed.

I nodded. "Damien said I could."

She raised a brow. "Did he? Or did you just assume you still had rights?"

I stared at her. "Are you warning me?"

"No," she said, stepping into the room and smoothing a wrinkle in the sheets. "I'm reminding you. Your last name doesn't protect you here. And Damien doesn't play games."

"Neither do I."

Her lips quirked. "Let's hope that's true."

---

At the Coffee Shop

The café in the city was one of the few places untouched by legacy and blood money.

I sat by the window, nursing an overpriced latte and tapping my foot under the table. My phone buzzed twice.

> Running late. Stay put.

Typical Luca.

Fifteen minutes passed.

Then twenty.

And just as I was about to leave, someone slid into the seat across from me.

But it wasn't Luca.

It was her.

Sharp red nails. High cheekbones. Sunglasses too expensive for this side of town.

Tatiana.

Alive.

I blinked. "You're-"

"Real?" she said, voice cool and detached. "Unfortunately."

I glanced around. "Does Damien know you're here?"

Her laugh was a whisper. "Damien thinks I'm buried in some forgotten town. Just like he wanted."

"What the hell is going on?"

Tatiana leaned forward. "Let me guess-he's charming. Powerful. Distant in a way that makes you chase his approval."

I didn't respond.

"Of course he is," she said. "That's his whole thing. You think you're the first?"

I sat back, heart racing. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I've been where you are. I lived in that house. I wore the rings, played the role, swallowed the lies. And when I finally opened my mouth to scream, he made sure no one listened."

My hands trembled. "Why come back now?"

"Because you still have a voice," she said. "And because someone needs to finish what I started."

Just then, Luca appeared behind her, stunned.

"Tatiana?"

She turned. "Luca."

"How are you alive?"

She smiled thinly. "Because I refused to die."

---

Back at the Estate

I couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.

The second I got home, I locked myself in my room and pulled up every file I could find on Damien's laptop. I bypassed his weak firewall using a trick Luca taught me, heart in my throat.

There were recordings.

Dozens.

Of conversations I hadn't known were being monitored. One of my father, begging for a deal. Another of Luca-his voice laced with grief over his brother's death.

And then... Tatiana.

Her voice, raw and shaking.

> "If you keep this up, Damien, they'll come for me."

"Let them," he replied.

I stopped the audio, sick to my stomach.

He'd known. All along. And still, he let the world believe she abandoned him.

I shoved the laptop shut and paced the room. My phone buzzed again.

> I think I found something. -L

> It's bigger than we thought. Files. Offshore accounts. Something named Veridian.

> We need to move fast.

---

That Night

Damien returned after dark, his coat soaked from the rain.

He smelled like whiskey and asphalt. The scent of war.

I was curled on the couch, pretending to read.

"Where were you today?" he asked casually, pouring a drink.

"Out."

"With?"

"Myself."

He studied me. "You've been quiet."

"So have you."

He crossed the room slowly. "You looked through the files."

I froze. "What?"

"I saw the login timestamp. You're not as careful as you think."

I stood. "You lied to me."

"I never claimed to be honest."

"You had files on me before we met."

"Yes."

"Why?"

He took a sip. "Because I had to know if you were worth the risk."

"I'm not property."

"No," he said. "You're leverage."

The words cracked something in me.

"You think this is love?" I asked. "You think this is how you win someone?"

"I don't want to win you," he said. "I want to keep you safe."

"From who? Yourself?"

"From the people who'd tear you apart just to hurt me."

I stared at him, heart pounding. "Then tell me what Veridian is."

His glass slipped slightly in his hand. "Where did you hear that?"

"Tatiana's alive."

Silence.

Long, brutal silence.

"She found me," I added. "She told me everything."

He exhaled, slow and tired. "She doesn't know everything."

"Then enlighten me."

He drained the glass and set it down hard. "Veridian was a project. One my father started. It wasn't legal. It wasn't humane. I shut it down the moment he died."

"But you kept the files."

"Because I needed insurance."

"Against who?"

"Everyone."

---

Later

I didn't sleep that night.

Not because I couldn't.

Because I didn't want to dream of Damien's face and wonder which version was real.

I lay there, watching the ceiling, trying to remember what peace ever felt like.

My phone buzzed again at 3:04 a.m.

> We're being watched. Move soon.

Luca.